Golf on Long Island

Tallgrass to reopen for walkers on Wednesday, March 2

Tallgrass Golf Course in Shoreham will welcome back walkers this Wednesday, March 2, the course's grand reopening date after a snowed-out winter.  The first group will go out at 9 a.m.  Sign in before noon and play all day for $40 ($30 after noon).

The wind-swept course on Suffolk County's north shore was ranked #8 among New York State public-access courses (and #2 on Long Island) in Golfweek's 2010 Best Courses You Can Play listing.  Newsday rated it the fourth-best public course on Long Island and selected the 11th hole (pictured) to its "Dream 18" in 2008.

2011 Leprechaun Classic at Crab Meadow

Hard to believe, but we're only a few hours away from March.  Typically, the end of February brings five days of the Accenture Match Play Championship on television and leaves you primed for any sort of golf competition.  Luckily, it also means the annual Leprechaun Golf Classic at the Crab Meadow Golf Course is only a few weekends away.  The Northport course invites all Long Islanders to participate in one of the season's first public golf outings on Thursday, March 17, and celebrate St. Patrick's Day with food, beer and prizes.

The Classic begins at 9:00 a.m. with a continental breakfast in the clubhouse.  The tournament -- in four-person scramble format -- is scheduled for a shotgun start at 10:00.  A spread of corned beef, cabbage and beer will greet participants at the conclusion of the tournament.  Prizes will be awarded to winners of closest-to-the-pin and long-drive contests.

Entry fee for the Leprechaun Golf Classic is $65 per person and includes cart, prizes, unlimited range balls, breakfast, lunch and beverages.  Singles and pairs are welcome to join and will be placed on four-person teams.

Call Crab Meadow at (631) 757-8800 to register or for additional details.

The Long Island Press selected Crab Meadow as one of the top three public golf courses on the Island in its 2009 "Best Of Long Island" poll.  The eighth hole, a short par-5 with a lake guarding the green, is a member of Newsday's Dream 18.

Lido loaded; GOLI golf season begins...at the range

Give Long Islanders clear grass, a sunny sky and 50-degree temps in late February and all of a sudden you're battling for tee times as if it's an August morning at Bethpage.  After being snowed out for two months, Golf On Long Island was gearing up to make its 2011 debut this afternoon, but another obstacle clogged the fairways -- a loaded tee sheet at Lido.

The 2011 season instead began at the Lido driving range and the windy upper tier at Heartland Golf Park.  Waits for Heartland's 50 heated, auto-tee stalls on the ground floor were as long as one hour.

Great Rock super reflects on snowy winter, says regraded #12 is ready to go

It's been a long winter for golfers in the Northeast.  Golf has been an afterthought since Christmas, when a blizzard dumped two feet of snow and, with help from follow-up storms, effectively buried the winter playing season on Long Island. 

However, there is at least one positive to emerge from the never-disappearing layer of winter snow.  In a message posted on the Great Rock Golf Club website, course superintendent Dan Wolf explains that a layer of snow is a benefit to the turf underneath because it protects the grass from cold, dry winds.  Much like the Nike golf polos stacked in your closet, winter winds have moisture-wicking properties that drain blades of grass that are left exposed to the harsh elements.  Also, the inevitable snow melt enriches the soil and roots with nutrients as the weather begins to warm.

One negative, says Wolf, is the temptation to trample on fresh coats of snow.  Frozen turf is easily damaged by heavy foot traffic.  "Our management team has been battling visiting snow enthusiasts all winter to ensure our course remains protected for the coming season," says the super.

Wolf and Great Rock general manager Brian Curtin are also eager to unveil the regraded par-3 12th, which was renovated late last season.  Wolf says the hole will play more fairly after filling in the front of the green and adding a small ledge in the back.  Curtin told Golf On Long Island last season that past superintendents had a tendency to place pins just about anywhere on the green, even though the severely pitched surface contained a shortage of playable hole locations.

Wolf's winter message comes a day after Newsday's Mark Herrmann speculated if this year's storms hurt Long Island golf courses.  Wolf and Curtin were featured in Newsday in April 2010.

See also:  Great Rock's 12th to be regraded this offseason, will be ready for spring

2010-11 Winter Rates Roundup III

For the first time in nearly two months, we can see expanses of grass once again.  Will area golf courses be up and running again anytime soon?  Die-hard winter golfers can only hope.

Now that a 60-degree day has provided a delicious taste of spring, we might as well throw out another batch of discount winter rates.  A few more days of snow melt and we might actually be able to pay one of these fees this winter season.

• Pine Ridge:  $30 in the afternoon, $45 in the morning on weekdays; $35/50 on weekends (cart included on all rates)

• Rock Hill:  $40 on weekdays, includes cart and lunch; $36 to walk, $49 to ride before noon on weekends, $27/40 in the afternoon

• Swan Lake:  $39 to walk, $49 to ride on weekdays; $44/58 on weekends; rates include breakfast or lunch

• Great Rock:  $39 before 1 p.m., $29 after 1 p.m. on weekdays; $49/29 on weekends

Contact the course pro shops or visit their websites for full details about rates and course conditions.  Note that these do not represent discounted rates at all courses.

For more winter rates, check out 2010-11 Winter Rates Roundup I and 2010-11 Winter Rates Roundup II.

And for offseason rates from previous years and a primer on winter golf in general, refer to Winter Golf on Long Island.

AP: Bethpage Black may host The Barclays in 2012

The USGA has already brought two U.S. Opens to Nassau County.  According to an Associated Press report, the PGA might bring a tournament of their own as soon as next season.

A source informed the AP that The Barclays, the opening playoff tournament of the FedEx Cup, is negotiating with the PGA Tour to bring the 2012 event to Bethpage Black next August.

The AP's Doug Ferguson writes:

"The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, said such a deal would need approval by the New York state parks and recreation department and the tour’s policy board."

The Barclays is typically held at courses around the New York metropolitan area.  The 2011 event will take place at the Plainfield Country Club in Edison, New Jersey.  In 2010, Matt Kuchar defeated Martin Laird in a playoff at the Liberty National Golf Club.

Bethpage Black hosted the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Open Championships.  Currently, the centerpiece of Bethpage State Park is not in the rotation for future Opens.

Read more:  Barclays looking at Bethpage Black for '12 (AP)

Town of Oyster Bay golf membership rates will not rise in 2011

In a statement released last week, the Town of Oyster Bay announced that membership fees for the town golf course in Woodbury will not rise for the 2011 season.  The Oyster Bay Town Board voted to keep membership rates the same for the third consecutive year. 

Members of the Town of Oyster Bay Golf Course -- a Tom Fazio-designed par-70 on Southwoods Road -- receive discounts on green fees and carts as well as access to the tee-time reservation system.   Individual memberships will remain at $175 for residents and $325 for non-residents, with discounts for seniors, military veterans and members of volunteer fire departments and auxiliary police units.  For more membership information and a full 2011 rate schedule for Oyster Bay golf, visit the course website. 

And for a full description of Oyster Bay's tight and challenging 18, check out the course flyover.

Spring Lake Golf Club to hold indoor clinic for juniors

Cristy Grzymala, director of golf at the Spring Lake Golf Club in Middle Island, will run an indoor "SNAG" clinic for juniors on Saturday, February 19 at 11:00 a.m. in the facility's catering hall.  SNAG (Starting New At Golf) is a comprehensive system that simplifies golf instruction for kids and provides them the opportunity to effectively transition into the game.

The hour-long clinic is open to kids aged 4 to 7 and costs $20 per child.  For more information or to register for the program, e-mail [email protected] or call (631) 924-5115.  You can also look at pictures of previous SNAG clinics on the Spring Lake website.

Long Island Dream Club: Stonewalls Restaurant, The Woods Course at Cherry Creek

It seems the farther east you play golf on Long Island, the less chance you'll have to leave the course hungry.  Last year's Long Island Dream Club restaurant was Blackwells at the Great Rock Golf Club in Wading River, one of the best and most relaxing settings for a post-round beer and burger (and steak, if you've really saved room over 18 holes).  

Not far down the road toward Riverhead is Stonewalls at the Woods Course at Cherry Creek, the restaurant selected to Golfing Magazine's 2010 Long Island Dream Club.  Its American-French menu earned a 24 (out of 30) food score in the 2010-11 Zagat Survey.  The restaurant offers prix fixe specials for lunch and dinner as well as a Sunday brunch.

From the mag:

"This multi-faceted facility features a grill room; perfect for golfers with salads, sandwiches, burgers and beer; to the French-Continental cuisine of the restaurant, with a more extensive menu that includes a variety of signature dishes.  Crab cakes, lobster bisque, Niman Ranch dry-rub rib steak, delicious desserts and more can all be found at Stonewalls, which is a perfect place to compliment a day on the course."

Off-Course Destinations: Skydrive Golf Center, Farmingdale

[This post was updated on November 28, 2011.]

On one side of Route 110 in Farmingdale, small planes soar into the sky from the runways of Republic Airport.  Directly across the road, hundreds of golf balls do the same from the stalls of the Skydrive Golf Center.

With 72 heated stalls for casual tune-ups, intense practice sessions or individual lessons, Skydrive is a centrally located spot for swing work that Long Island Press readers voted as the #1 driving range in 2009 and 2010.  The facility also offers junior clinics and summer camps for young players.

Skydrive's appeal to the restless golfer is in its functionality.  Players who simply want to tee up, swing and repeat will have few complaints.  Buckets range from $6 (45 balls) to $13 (135 balls), with early-bird specials and other discounts available for frequent visitors.  Empty stalls are typically easy to come by.

There are no bells and whistles at Skydrive -- no pop-up tees like at Heartland Golf Park, no enclosed stalls or practice bunker like at Spring Rock.  As a whole, the facility shows a good deal of wear and tear, from the parking lot to the turf field.  The second-floor ball machine is out of service.  And issues with the perimeter netting seem to occur more frequently than at other ranges.

Luckily, Skydrive is surrounded by almost every conceivable form of light suburban entertainment, so while the facility itself might not have the amenities to keep you and your friends or kids on site for more than a few buckets, you can at least make the range part of a full afternoon or evening.  A movie theater beyond the far end of the range might as well have a flag on its roof.  Sprawling Airport Plaza and a half-dozen chain grills and fast-food stops are less than a mile away.  Even Adventureland is within a five-minute drive.  If billiards is right next to golf on your list of hobbies, stop into the showroom for Thomas Grimaldi Pool Tables, which opened right next to Skydrive's front counter in the fall of 2011.  (Previously, the space served as a tasting room for Osprey's Dominion Vineyards of Peconic.)  Or skip the showroom and hit up happy hour across the street at the 56th Fighter Group.

Skydrive is located at 1024 Broadhollow Road (Route 110) in Farmingdale.  For information on rates, lessons, junior clinics and summer camps, visit the Skydrive website or call (631) 694-4666.